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Oscillations, Waves, and Interactions - GWDG

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246 A. Vogel, I. Apitz, V. Venugopalan<br />

Figure 18. Recoil-induced material expulsion in water ablation by 200-µs Er:YAG laser<br />

pulses, together with a schematic illustration showing the pathlines of the ejected material<br />

fragments. The lateral component of the recoil-induced flow collides with the surrounding<br />

fluid that is at rest, thus producing an upward directed splash.<br />

Material will be ejected whenever the recoil stress component in the radial direction<br />

exceeds the mechanical strength of the tissue, as illustrated in Fig. 18.<br />

The sequence of primary material ejection <strong>and</strong> recoil-induced material expulsion<br />

is shown in Fig. 19 for free-running <strong>and</strong> Q-switched Er:YAG laser ablation of liver.<br />

While the primary material ejection visible at short delay times takes place across<br />

the entire ablation area, recoil-induced expulsion occurs preferentially at the ablation<br />

crater rim <strong>and</strong> includes the ejection of tissue fragments much larger than those ejected<br />

during the initial phase explosion. The recoil-induced ejection dynamics resembles<br />

the surface indentation <strong>and</strong> subsequent “splash” produced by the impact of liquid<br />

droplets on bulk liquids that has already been investigated in considerable detail<br />

[111,112]. The mass expelled at later times far exceeds the mass ejected during the<br />

primary ablation phase. However, the velocity of the ejecta is considerably slower.<br />

Recoil-induced material expulsion begins after the primary ejection process, requires<br />

a radiant exposure well above the ablation threshold, <strong>and</strong> provides an increase<br />

of the ablation efficiency. A marked increase of the ablation efficiency at a certain<br />

radiant exposure has been observed for weak tissues as liver <strong>and</strong> myocardium as well<br />

as for gelatin with high water content but not for tissues with greater mechanical<br />

strength such as skin [37,113]. Remarkably, no recoil-induced ejection was observed<br />

in skin ablation using Q-switched Er:YAG laser pulses even when the recoil stress<br />

was about 50 times larger than the quasi-static ultimate tensile strength of skin [37].

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